Understanding And Appreciation Of Wolf 's Ontological Premises

Sociology is defined as ‘The study of human social life, groups and societies’ (Giddens, 1989). It involves describing and analysing how different forces such as social, cultural, political, and economic have on behaviour and an individuals identity. (Van Kreiken et al.2000). Furthermore, it encompasses the complex connections on a micro level along with those on a macro level thus enabling sociological imagination.

The Ontological Argument In Anselm's ontological argument he is trying to prove the existence of God, his argument is an argument purely based on the mind and does not require the moral agent to venture into the real of the senses. Ontology is to do with being, or what something is. Anselm's ontological argument concerns existence and whether it is an attribute of God in the same way omnipotence, omniscience and benevolence are believed to be. The argument is an a priori argument. It does not rest on proving God's existence by relying on experimental knowledge but on showing that God must exist logically, or that God's non-existence is illogical.

C. Wright Mills, author of “The Sociological Imagination”, explains how the sociological imagination plays a part in human development, and how certain social forces affecting the lives of those who are constantly facing hardships. He explains that the problems that we face as human beings involve the history of social factors. In order to understand one’s personal biography, you would have to be able to know how social history affects your life. By him saying that “The sociological imagination enables us to grasp history and biography and the relations between the two within society. That is its task and its promise” (Mills, 1959: 15), he means that the history that we experienced has an impact on our everyday lives. The correlation between history and biography can help us understand why we experience the things that we experience. Mills goes on to explain that our personal problems are, instead, wider public issues that have been

Sociological imagination is the “quality of mind” (Mills, 1959: p. 4) that enables us to look outside our everyday life and see the entire society as we were an outsider with the benefit of acknowledge of human and social behaviour. It allows us to see how society shapes and influences our life experiences. Is the ability to see the general in the particular and to “defamiliarise the familiar” (Bauman 1990: p. 15). According to C. Wright Mills, it “enables its possessor to understand the larger historical scene in terms of its meaning for the inner life and the external career of a variety of individuals” (Mills, 1959: p. 5). These

In Allen Johnson’s “The Forest, The Trees, and The One Thing”, he expresses that in order to understand sociology we need to be able to understand the relationship between biography and history. To explain this, Johnson uses five rules to sociology called the sociological imagination. These rules explain how an individual relates to social systems.

“The first wisdom of sociology is this:  things are not what they seem”  (Berger 1963)  http://archiv.watzlawickehrenring.at/2008/peter‐l‐berger/fotos.html Berger, P. (1963).  Invitation to Sociology, Bantam Doubleday Dell cited in:  http://www.soc.iastate.edu/sapp/Berger.html: date accessed 12 January  2016. Key Concept: The sociological imagination C. Wright Mills: “ …enables its possessor to  understand  the

The sociological imagination as described by C. Wright Mills is “the ability to understand the intersection between biography and history or interplay of self and the world.” (13) Mills also describes the sociological imagination by saying, “we have come to know every individual lives, from one generation to the next, in some society; that he lives out a biography, and that he lives out within some historical sequence. By the fact of his living he contributes, however minutely, to the shaping of this society and to the course of its history, even as he is made by society and by its historical push and shove.” (1) In saying this statement, Mills leads us into what he calls the history and the biography of sociological imagination. Mills describes history has being part of the individual and biography being part of society. In an excerpt from his book, The Sociological Imagination, he talks about how troubles are our history. Mills states, “troubles occur within the character of the individual and within the range of his immediate relations with other; they have to do with self ad with those limited areas of social life of which he is directly and personally aware.” Mills says this about biography, “Issues have to do with matters that transcend these local environments of the individual and the range of his inner life.” (2)

A key part of engaging in sociology is to adopt a sociological viewpoint or 'think sociologically'. Etymologically, sociology is the 'study of society' but this doesn't differentiate sociology from other forms of social study. Hence, many begin to describe thinking sociologically by what it is not - it is not thinking politically, thinking anthropologically, thinking historically or thinking psychologically, for example (Berger 1966: 11-36; Reiss 1968: 2-3). Others try to determine the nature of sociological thinking by detailing practical phenomena which can be thought about such as social systems and their subsystems, social institutions and social structure, and social aggregates, relationships, groups and organisations (Reiss 1968: 1),

By explaining the humanistic perspective proposed by him, the author convincingly demonstrates that sociology is more than its methods, such as surveying, or its theories. There are many sociological theories, but they all are part of the fundamental vision of all processes as the effects of human interactions. Berger (1963) often refers to his own experience of being a sociologist, and this adds reliability to his arguments. Also, despite beginning the book in a light and humorous manner, the author further turns to complicated scientific notions and perspectives; this shows his expertise and makes the book’s major thesis more persuasive.

In sociological theory there are many concepts discussed that are utilized in the analyses of society and culture. Some of the main concepts are Postmodernism, Historical Materialism, Structuralism, Interpretive Sociology and Poststructuralism to name a few. These theories are relevant to the research of understanding certain or specific cultural texts. These concepts provide problems and solutions associated with some of the research approaches fore-mentioned. Analysing the main dimensions will be covered by discussing the appropriate concepts separately and by individually contrasting the classical and modern theories with Quentin

Commentators made it apparent on so many occasions that there was no place, patience or understanding for the study of ethnic relations in classical sociological theory (Stone, 1977, 1995; Zubaida, 1978; Berlin, 1992; Guibernau, 1996). It has been constantly and persistently argued that the classics of sociology had very little to say about ethnicity and that even when they made some comments, these were regarded as sporadic and largely irrelevant to their general theories of society. Although ethnic relations were not the primary focus of their analyses all four founding fathers of sociology – Marx, Durkheim, Simmel and Weber – developed coherent and, within their respective theoretical positions, consonant and well articulated theories of

Fine tries to make the argument that sociology comes to stand in for the ideas of the 20th century. He argues that cosmopolitan ethic the idea of openness and association across boarders was picked up and used by theorists in sociology in particular, therefor they were considered to be cosmopolitan in nature. Fine suggests we then arrive at a contemporary form of cosmopolitanism, which dramatically increased in the 1990’s. This partly due to the soviet union collapsing after the cold war ended which resulted in a whole new understanding of the world. People needed to make sense of it and there was this increase in people’s ability to feel connected to one another across borders. This is when the idea of cosmopolitanism gets rejuvenated at the time.

The sociological imagination raises three core questions. Firstly, what is the structure of the society being studied? Secondly, what relevance does its context in history have? And thirdly, how does it influence and shape those within it? (Mills, 1959: 6-7). The consideration of these questions enables the greatest understanding of the relationship between society and an individual’s position and circumstance, and is what makes the concept sociological.

One of the strengths of promise of sociology, which is the sociological imagination, is it helps to see and think outside the box and to analyze a better understanding to gain benefit that a person can earn in a society. An individual is more conscious about himself or herself and the people in society. In addition, an individual will know how human behavior interacts with the society. The people are not related but also experience same events in life, like personal troubles and social issues. The sociological imagination gives an individual the capability to understand the relationship of biography, history, and traditions related to social and historical events in society experience by the individual or society. Mills’ wants us to understand the individual's biography and lifestyles know the his or her surroundings and

Having written The Sociological Imagination in 1959, C. Wright Mills was brought up in a society far more different and archaic than the idea of contemporary society today. The ideals that were imparted to him during his lifetime provided a framework to the ideals that are imparted to people today; however, like all incarnations, processes and ideas adapted to situate themselves into the transitioning threads of society. Through his elaboration on the sociological imagination, C. Wright Mills portrays the plight of the average citizen during his time period in a jaded light thereby providing a limited, but nonetheless relevant scope of the sociological plight of the average citizen in contemporary society.